22 Editions
Confronted by these all-American delights, the human soul crumbles into fudgey defeat, and a million eyes widen into heart-shaped pools of chocolate goo. But the dearly beloved brownie is not without its problems for the cook. For a start, there’s the divisive issue of cakey versus fudgey. The two opposing schools of thought are represented neatly by the twin deities of Nigel (Slater) and Nigella (Lawson) – the former’s method is designed to incorporate as much air as possible into the batter, giving a surprisingly light, but divinely dark result, whereas the original domestic goddess concentrates on cramming as much butter as possible into her brownies, in order to ensure something quite obscenely rich and gooey. At the risk of prompting Nigella’s many fans to toss away this book in disgust, her brownies are just too much for my taste – designed more for smearing saucily around the place than actually eating, perhaps. Replacing some of the chocolate with cocoa powder, as Nigel does, ensures a rich flavour without weighing the brownies down with too much fat, and vigorous whipping of the batter helps to give them a lovely crisp crust. Plunging them straight into cold water as soon as they leave the oven, as recommended by the American First Lady of Chocolate, Alice Medrich, stops them from continuing to cook – so they stay gorgeously moist. But definitely not gooey.
How to melt chocolate: Chocolate is very sensitive to heat, and burns easily, so it’s important to take care when melting it. You can microwave chunks of chocolate, stirring every 30 seconds until fully melted, but it is safer to break it into a heatproof glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water, so I can keep an eye on it. Don’t allow the bowl to touch the water, and be careful not to drip any liquids into the chocolate or it will solidify.
Things to add to the brownies instead of walnuts: 100g of pistachio nuts and the bruised seeds of 10 cardamom pods 100g of chopped toffee and 50g of roughly chopped pecans 100g of mini marshmallows 100g of fresh or frozen raspberries and 50g of white chocolate chips 125g of dried fruit – sour cherries or dried apricots are my favourites
Makes 12 250g chocolate (70 per cent cocoa) 250g unsalted butter, softened 300g golden caster sugar 3 large free-range eggs, plus 1 extra egg yolk, lightly beaten 60g plain fl our ½ teaspoon baking powder A pinch of salt 60g good-quality cocoa powder 100g walnuts (optional) Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/ gas 4, and line the base and sides of a 23 x 23cm baking tin (a loosebottomed one won’t work here) with baking parchment, cutting slits in the corners to help it fit better. 2. Set a bowl over, but not touching, a pan of simmering water, and add 200g of the chocolate, broken into pieces. Allow to melt, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat immediately. 3. Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, and break the rest of the chocolate into chips. 4. With the mixer still running, gradually add the eggs, beating well between each addition to ensure it’s thoroughly incorporated before pouring in any more. Leave it mixing
www.umbrellamagazine.co.uk
on a high speed for 5 minutes, until the batter has a silky sheen and has increased in volume. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder into a large bowl and mix well. 5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the melted chocolate and chocolate chips with a metal spoon, followed by the dry ingredients and walnuts. 6. Spoon the mixture into the tin, and bake for 30 minutes. Test with a skewer; it should come out sticky, but not coated with raw mixture. If it does, put it back into the oven for another 3 minutes, then test again. Prepare a roasting tin of iced water. 7. When the brownies are ready, remove the tin from the oven and place in the cold water bath. Allow to cool for an hour before cutting into squares, and leave the tin in the water bath until cooled completely. Store in an airtight container: they’re even better the next day.
Perfect is published by Penguin, out now www.penguin.co.uk
Pictures: © Felicity Cloake
Perfect chocola te brown ies